“Well, that’s good. I’ll pray for her.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Robin and her mother talked until they ran out of things to say. Robin was glad she had called. Her mother had been lonely since Robin’s dad passed and Robin did feel a little guilty because she wasn’t there to help her. But Robin’s three brothers lived nearby, and her mother kept busy sitting for her grandkids and working with her church groups, so Robin didn’t feel too bad.
The game started shortly after Robin hung up. She watched a half, but was too tired to finish, so she went to bed early so she would be sharp when the Hastings case started up in the morning.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Doug Armstrong was failing so badly that he couldn’t sleep, so he was exhausted when court started. Rex Kellerman called Randi Stark to the stand. Randi broke down twice during her direct testimony. Doug chanced a glance at the jurors. What he saw on their faces was not encouraging.
“Miss Stark,” Kellerman asked as he continued his direct examination, “did you tell the defendant that you did not want to have sexual intercourse with him?”
Randi nodded.
“You have to answer the question so the court reporter can record it,” Kellerman said gently.
“Sorry. Yes. I told him to stop.”
“And did he stop?”
“No… no, sir.”
“What did he do when you told him to stop?”
“He ripped my panties off. Then he slapped me and told me to be a good girl. Then… then he forced himself inside me.”
“What were you feeling when he penetrated you?”
Randi started to cry. “It hurt. I told him but he wouldn’t stop.”
“Did the defendant ejaculate inside you?”
“Yes.”
“What happened then?”
“I yell ‘Get off me,’ and Annie came into the room.”
“Did he leave then?”
“Only after Annie threatened to scream.”
“What did you do after the defendant left?”
“Annie took me to the hospital.”
“Thank you, Randi. I have no further questions.”
“Mr. Armstrong,” Judge Mary Redding said.
“Thank you, Your Honor. Miss Stark, you don’t like Blaine, do you?”
Randi looked stunned by the question. “He raped me. No, I don’t like him.”
“What about before the party? Isn’t it true that you hated him because in high school, your boyfriend, Ryan, attacked Blaine and was sent to jail?”
Randi glared at Armstrong. “Blaine baited Ryan. He was much bigger and stronger, and he beat him up. Then he reported Ryan to the police and lied about what happened. Ryan was never the same after he got out of juvie,” Randi said.
“You claim Blaine lied,” Doug said, “but Ryan had his day in court and he was convicted, wasn’t he?”
“That’s because he got his friends to lie at the trial.”
Blaine leaned over to his lawyer. “Object,” he said. “Ask the judge to strike the answer.”
Before Armstrong could say anything, Randi pointed at Blaine. “Because of him, Ryan killed himself. So, yeah, I hate him.”
“Objection!” Doug shouted.
“Sustained. Miss Stark, you must not volunteer that type of statement. Confine yourself to answering the questions Mr. Armstrong asks.”
The judge turned to the jury. “I am instructing you to ignore Miss Stark’s last two statements about what Mr. Hastings’s friends and Ryan may have done. They are inadmissible guesses, and you may not use them in any way in deciding Mr. Hastings’s case.”
“A lot of good that’s going to do me,” Blaine whispered. “You’re letting that little bitch say anything she wants.”
“Mr. Armstrong,” the judge asked, “do you have any more questions?”
“Yes, Your Honor. Miss Stark, I see Robin Lockwood in the spectator section. Is she an attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Have you hired her?”
“Yes.”
“And that’s because you plan to sue Blaine if he is convicted, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“And isn’t your motive for accusing my client of rape the money you hope to get in a civil suit?”
“No. I called the police because he raped me against my will. He’s an animal, and I want to protect any other woman he can rape if he’s not behind bars.”
“Move to strike that answer, Your Honor?” Doug said.
“You asked the question, Mr. Armstrong, and you’re stuck with the answer.”
“The State rests,” Rex Kellerman told the Court as soon as Randi was excused.
“All right. Let’s recess and be back in twenty minutes,” the judge said.
“Let’s talk outside,” Blaine said.
“Sure,” Doug said.
Blaine and Doug passed Senior on their way up the aisle. He looked furious, but Junior waved him down. Blaine led Doug into a deserted stairwell at the back of the fifth-floor corridor.
“Do I go on next?” Blaine asked.
“I don’t think you should testify.”
“Oh yeah? Why is that?”
“Are you going to say that you never penetrated Stark?”
“That’s the truth.”
“Kellerman will crucify you. He’ll ask you how your sperm got into Stark, and you won’t have an answer.”
“You should have given the jury an answer. I told you to hire a DNA expert who would tell the jury that isn’t my DNA.”
“I did hire an expert. I told you, he conducted his own test, but he agreed that the DNA in the rape kit was a match for your DNA.”
Hastings’s face flushed with anger and a pulse started throbbing in his temple. “Then you should have hired another expert, you fucking incompetent.” Blaine’s low growl was more frightening than if he had screamed in Doug’s face. “I never fucked that half-wit. She lied on the stand, and you didn’t do a goddamn thing.”
They were alone in the stairwell, and Doug thought Blaine might attack him.
“I am not going to prison,” Hastings said. “Do you understand me?”
“Calm down, Blaine—”
“I’ll calm down when I hear ‘not guilty.’ And you better make sure that’s what I hear, or you are going to be very sorry.”
Armstrong’s stomach turned. “What are you talking about?”
“Do your job,” Hastings answered. Then he walked away.
“Do you have any witnesses, Mr. Armstrong?” the judge asked.
“Mr. Hastings is going to testify.”
Doug spent the first part of his direct examination asking his client about his academic and athletic accomplishments.
“And are you planning to attend medical school?”
“Yes, sir, if I’m not drafted by an NFL team. But medical school is definitely in my plans for the future after a career in the NFL.” Blaine turned to the jurors. “I want to work with children in some capacity.”
“Let’s talk about the night of the party after the Portland State–Oregon game. Did you see Miss Stark at the party?”
“Yes, sir. She came up to me and started talking.”
“Had you been drinking when Miss Stark approached you?”
“Yes, sir. I was tired from the game and I had a little more alcohol than I should have.”
“How were you feeling?”
“A little tipsy.”
“Did you dance with Miss Stark?”
“Yes.”
“What happened while you were dancing?”
“She came on to me. She started kissing me and she started stroking my crotch.”